Seventeen out of 20 doctors accused of accepting favours from pharmaceutical companies to prescribe their medicines turned up at the Ethics Committee's meeting of the Bihar Council of Medical Registration on Monday.

Nine of the 20 doctors are from Patna.

Sources said the Medical Council of India (MCI) had provided the Bihar Council of Medical Registration (BCMR) the list of the doctors to against whom they received allegations of taking undue favours from Ahmedabad-based company Eris Lifesciences Pvt Ltd in 2014, but the BCMR took two years to proceed. A senior BCMR official, who was present in Monday's meeting, claimed that the list provided by MCI was not very clear.

Doctors who turned up at the ethics committee's meeting on Monday submitted their proof of income tax return and other details including passport-related ones, sources in the BCMR said. The ethics committee meeting was headed by former PMCH superintendent Amar Kant Jha Amar. BCMR registrar Sahjanand Prasad Singh and members Sunil Kumar Singh and Kiran Kumari were also present.

The accused doctors presented their defence, and the BCMR will decide on action if any after going through the proof provided, it is learned.

"Today, the doctors concerned were asked to report in the meeting," Sunil said. "They were asked to give their explanation. We are going to examine the various documents they have submitted to us. It would be very early to make any comment on this matter." He did not specify any time frame for the probe.

Sources said another case of doctors allegedly taking undue favours from a pharmaceutical company is pending with the BCMR.

In 2012, Andhra Pradesh MP Ponnam Prabhakar had written to the Centre's Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilisers alleging that a few doctors in the country - including a few from Patna - were given money by a pharmaceutical company for prescribing its medicines. The Bihar government was apprised of the complaint the same year but there has been no follow-up, according to highly placed sources.

Asked the delay in the probe of both the cases by the BCMR, Sahjanand said: "Both the cases have reached the ethics committee. We cannot share the details of the cases. It's confidential."

City doctors in general were divided over the cases.

Cardiac surgeon Ajit Pradhan said there might be some black sheep in the herd but not all doctors are corrupt and many might get trapped in this move even without committing any wrongdoing.

"For example, I might have been prescribing medicine of some particular brand to some patients since the past 10 years because over the years I have seen good result of the particular brand's medicine, but that does not mean that I am taking favours from the pharmaceutical company," he explained.

He said efforts should rather be made to conduct a prescription audit of doctors.

"Only this would reveal which doctor is actually taking undue favours from the pharma companies," he said.

Othopaedic surgeon Amulya Kumar Singh also said: "The MCI should tell in detail on what basis they are accusing certain doctors of taking undue favours."

WHAT MCI NORMS SAY

The MCI (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) (Amendment) Regulations, 2009, says: A medical practitioner shall not accept any travel facility inside the country or outside, including rail, air, ship, cruise tickets, paid vacations etc, from any pharmaceutical or allied healthcare industry or their representatives for self and family members for vacation or for attending conferences, seminars, workshops, etc.

What action a doctor might face if he/she is found violating this norm?
The state council of the MCI has the power to cancel the registration of the doctor concerned but the state council can take any action against the doctor concerned only if its own probe proves the fact that the doctor has taken any kind of undue favour from the pharmaceutical company. No action can be taken against any doctor on the basis of suspicion, said Sahjanand Prasad Singh, registrar of the Bihar Council of Medical Registration.

MCI’s new guideline regarding doctors taking undue favours from pharmaceutical companies

The new guidelines, which were notified in February this year, elaborate the quantum of punishment for doctors on the basis of the value of favours or freebies received from pharma companies. The fine is determined by the size of the favour accepted (a favour can mean anything from a gift to hard cash to an all-expense paid vacation). 

If a doctor accepts anywhere between Rs 1000 and Rs 5000, he or she will receive a warning. A favour amounting to Rs 5000 to Rs 10000 will earn a three-month suspension from the State Medical Council, Rs 10000 to Rs 50000 will get a six month suspension and anything more than Rs 50000 would result in a year’s suspension, said K.K. Aggarwal, a former member of the MCI’s ethics committee and national president elect of the Indian Medical Association.